Day 5: The biggest misconception you think people have about single life

While I was purging my stuff a few months ago, I found my little green notebook where I used to write the inspirational text messages I received from my friends. I am really a sucker for inspirational quotes so I always make sure that I have back up before I delete any text message from my phone. When I scanned the said green notebook, a certain quote caught my attention which made me reflect a little on it. I even took a picture of it and posted it on instagram just to have a record. The quote goes something like this:

Some people say single persons have a sad life. No, they have friends that make them happy. Some say no one cares for them. That’s also a lie. They have God and a family who loves them. But you know why they are single? It’s because they look forward to long-term relationship at the right time with the right person and not just for experience.

I wrote this quote when I was still in my teens and the reason why I wrote it is because I believe it. I know in my heart back then that I don’t want to settle in a relationship just for the sake of experience, and all the more, I don’t want to settle in a relationsip with the wrong person. When I saw it again, I felt so proud of my younger self for having this kind of conviction. So how is this related to the question today? Well, I believe the first two lines are two of the BIGGEST misconceptions of being single: Single people are SAD and UNLOVED.

Some people say single persons have a sad life… Most people think that being single and alone always equates to being lonely. It may be true to some, especially when they haven’t experience sincere love in any form, but most of the time, it’s not. Happiness is a choice and one way of choosing happiness is spending time with people who share the same belief, interests and passion with us and accept us for who we are despite our flaws and weaknesses – our friends. Though we really do feel lonely from time to time, it doesn’t last long because we have friends who are always there to make us feel better. And since single people are not committed to anyone, they have more time to explore the world and meet more people.

Some say no one cares for them. That’s also a lie… Yes. I definitely agree that it’s a lie that single people are UNLOVED. Most people don’t understand that love has not one but FOUR faces (maybe I should write about this next time :D). Romantic love or Eros is just one of them. The other faces of love is affection (love of family), friendship and agape (love of God). Of all the four faces of love, the highest and most perfect form is agape. It is most commonly known as the unconditional love, and the only person who can give this consistently and deeply is God. God’s love never fails. So whether we ‘feel’ it or not, single people are always loved. 😀